THE CLEAN LIFE IS A BLOG ON:
WAYS THAT WILL HELP YOU GET AND STAY SOBER AND LIVE A LIFE OF SOBRIETY.
KEEPING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE IN LIFE WILL HELP YOU IN SO MANY WAYS AND THAT INCLUDES FINDING YOUR SOBRIETY.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

So you want to get sober what's next is something every alcoholic thinks of when he/she wants to change their lives.

What is the first step in getting sober and how can I start the recovery process is one of the many questions alcoholics may ask themselves, but many may not know the answer or how to go about it.

I know that one of the most important questions is, "do you really want to get sober or are you being forced into something you don't have in your heart to do?" Are you willing to surrender to your addiction and start a new life of sobriety?Are you willing to possibly let go of your drinking friends and start to live a normal life without your crutch and friends that may possibly put a damper on you succeeding in getting clean and sober?
So you ask. "Whats Next?" You have taken your first step by admitting you have a problem with alcohol and want help and now it is time to pick your starting sobriety date in which will be the most important date in your life, and for the rest of your lives, as it is for myself. I so look forward to my sobriety date to come each year and look back and say to myself, " I have made it through one more year clean and sober."

What a thrill and a huge achievement in an alcoholics life to have made it through one more year of sobriety.

Many alcoholics think they would never be able to get sober, but once they have made their minds up to at least try getting sober, they may surprise themselves by just how easy it can be to get sober if you really have it in your heart to do so.

Stay focused, stay positive and believe in yourself. By doing these things and keeping a positive attitude in life you will be able to get and stay sober. No matter what happens in your life while in recovery, don't back down to your demons. Never let them back into your life again. They, our demons, will always try to get back into our lives in different ways, but you have to be strong enough to put them away and say the most important word in your life, and that is the word, "NO!"

If you have the willingness, desire and the determination to get clean and sober, then it will indeed happen in your life. Believe and you will achieve is my motto from now on in my life, as it should be yours as well.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Many people in our society and in our world are struggling with either a drug or alcohol addiction and can't find a way out. Here are my ideas on what to do if you are struggling with an addiction.

These ideas worked for me two years ago when I quit drinking alcohol and still work to this day. Here we go with the first and most important thing in surrendering to your addiction to drugs or alcohol.

You need and must want to get clean and sober and will do anything it takes to achieve sobriety.You can not just make believe to others that you are going to stop drinking or using and hide behind your addiction.You have to be very serious about what you are about to do. This is not a game you are playing.

You are dealing with your life and whether you will live or die because of an avoidable addiction.
Ask for the help you need to get clean and sober, whether it be your family or friends and if
need be, seek Medical help so that these trained Professionals can evaluate your addiction and find what proper steps to take for you to get sober, the healthy and safe way.

Don't be a shamed of your addiction. Tell people that you are an alcoholic or a drug addict and want help to get sober. Don't hide behind the bottle!

Start to prepare yourself for your new life once you have admitted you have a addiction problem and need help. Life is a beautiful thing once you are sober, and your outlook towards life will change so much you will even surprise yourself, as I surprised myself when I took that first step towards sobriety.

If you are struggling with any kind of addiction and want out for good, seek help and never be afraid to ask for the help you need to get clean and sober.
This one question, "to ask for help or can you help me" could be a matter of life or death, so don't delay another second and don't be a shamed to ASK FOR HELP!

Monday, November 21, 2011

If you are addicted to drugs or alcohol, you don't know what you're missing out on living life sober and to the fullest.

Living your life sober is such a wonderful thing, speaking for someone such as myself, that was addicted to alcohol for many years, and to live life to the fullest is something many of us do not even try to do or maybe we just don't know how.

I have to say from my own experiences drinking alcohol just how I was letting life slip away and really never even realized what was happening. Being a drug addict or an alcoholic we tend to only have one thing that is more important than anything else, and that is our addiction.

All of us are smart enough to know that we are all here on earth just one time so, you had better make the best of every minute of your life while you are here. Live sober and live your life to the fullest every chance you get, because you never know what tomorrow will bring to you.

I have learned so much about life over the last two years being clean and sober that it is hard to even explain all the wonderful feelings inside I have and all the great things that have happened to me, my wife and my family, and all because I changed my outlook on life. The biggest thing was I finally surrendered to my addiction to alcohol. Those demons will never run and try to ruin my life ever again and this should go for every drug addict or alcoholic. Take a stand in your life and surrender to your inner demons.

I know it sounds easy when I word it that way right, but believe it or not it is very easy only if you truly want to live life sober and live it to the fullest.

If you think you are ready to surrender to your addiction or having any worries of the addiction that captured your life, then do something about it. So many people worry about their health, and I was one of those people. If you are so worried about your health and your life then why is it so hard to quit drinking alcohol or using drugs? I bet you don't have an answer for that question, except that you will say, "well I am addicted to drugs or alcohol and there is now way out of my addiction." Does this sound familiar to you, because it sure does to me.

There is always a way out of an addiction only if you are ready to change your life for the better and surrender to that addiction. Until you are fully ready and finally get out of denial and admit you have a serious problem you are going to be stuck right where you are drinking and using, unfortunately.

We all have the the strength, the power and the brain to figure out anything. The problem is, that so many of us are just happy with our life and the way we are living it now. I think these people are just afraid to change the lives or too lazy to work on the addiction and start a new life clean and sober.

If you have the willingness, the desire and the determination to get clean and sober than you are taking that first step towards finding sobriety.

I can tell you one thing, you maybe afraid of your health declining or your life being shortened by your addiction, BUT never be afraid of sobriety. Being clean and sober is something that will help you live your life fuller in the end, so surrender and go for the life you deserve to have and enjoy the one and only life you have.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

When there is am alcoholic in your family or any part of your life, many of us tend to feel sorry for them and their addiction to alcohol. When we start to feel sorry for them we begin enabling the alcoholic and sometimes we don't know that we are in fact hurting them and not helping them.

Many of us think we are doing the alcoholic a favor by lending or giving them money to support their addiction, but in fact we are enabling them, and by doing so, they think what they are doing by drinking and abusing alcohol is okay.

I can realize that someone would feel sorry for the alcoholic because there was an alcoholic in my family and one time and it was myself. I would ask he same questions to people,such as,do you have any money so I can get a six pack or can you lend me some money because I spent mine on alcohol.

Better yet, when the alcoholic begins drinking in the afternoon or anytime of the day really and then runs out of alcohol and needs more to continue drinking and getting more drunk they then ask if these people can buy more alcohol for them because they are too drunk to drive and get it them self.

All these things our families and our friends may do in enabling the alcohol, but instead these families and friends have to learn the word "NO" and not enable the alcoholic anymore. Sooner or later the alcoholic may get the hint, although I have known many alcoholics that can get very nasty because what they have asked for as a favor the person or people refuse to do for them.

The main purpose of this article is just to say if there is an alcoholic in your family or in your life, do not enable them and give them what they want. You are only making things worse by doing so. You need to be strong and no how to tell the alcoholic, "No I can not help you kill yourself and I refuse tosay it is okay to drink alcohol." If you say no enough times and not enable the alcoholic in their time of need, they will have no choice but to figure it out on their own or simply start to think to them selves, maybe I do have an addiction and I should ask for the help I need to get clean and sober.

This is not to say that the alcoholic will do the above, but it certainly will make it harder for them to get the alcohol they need and when the start to realize they are losing the families and friends slow but sure all because of their addiction they may then see the light and get help.

You are not holding back the alcohol from them just to be a nasty and mean person, you are doing it to save their life and make them realize there is a beautiful life out there for them living it sober. Be supportive and help them get sober, but not enable them to use you or try to take advantage of you as far as helping them in their addiction.

Friday, November 18, 2011

One of the biggest fears for a person in recovery is the fear of relapsing, whether is be alcoholism or being addicted to drugs.

When I became clean and sober people would ask me, "are you afraid of relapsing?" My answer was no and I have tips to help you stay sober. I have written many articles on tips that have helped me stay sober. These tips worked wonderful for me and I must say, if you are serious about getting sober and staying sober read what worked for me and took the fear out of me relapsing. They just may help you not to relapse after working so hard to get clean and sober.

THIS IS WHAT WORKED FOR ME TO STAY SOBER:

First off, when I decided to surrender to my addiction and you have decided to do the same, you must tell yourself you will never be able to pick up an alcoholic drink for the rest of your life. If you can accept that strong promise to yourself, then you are on your way to sobriety.

Please don't get me wrong. When I surrendered to my alcohol addiction the first few month and sometime even to this day, I get the urge to drink alcohol, but I continue to remind myself of the promise to myself back when I quit drinking alcohol.

The thoughts that went through my mind were powerful in the respect of just how hard I worked to get to the point of sobriety I was in at that moment the urge came about me to drink, and I must say, by thinking how hard I worked stopped that urge right away.

This goes for anyone that is trying their hardest to stay sober without relapsing. Think of all the hard work and determination you have to stay clean and sober. Just think if you were to have that urge to drink and you figured, what the heck, one drink shouldn't hurt. Once you put that drink to your lips and swallow it, the demons will then be waken and your life may just change by one single sip of a drink. I say these things by my own experiences with drinking alcohol, but some of you may be able to have that one drink and call it quits, BUT I hardly doubt it would work out for those who wish to try their luck at drinking alcohol again.

There will be many things in the rest of your life while in recovery that may upset you or huddles you may to jump, but never let any of these things in life make you back down from your demons and wind up relapsing. You can solve anything being sober. You don't need drugs or alcohol to get through life anymore and always remember that!

Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic sad to say. I know for a fact if I were to take a sip of alcohol I would be doomed and back to drinking alcohol everyday and I am sure many other alcoholic would fit right into the same category as myself, so the best and only thing to do is to NOT PICK UP that drink.

Aways remember, whether you believe it or not, that you can have more fun being sober than being drunk, at least that is what I have learned now being clean and sober. .

If you keep a positive attitude and stay strong to yourself, and most of all, learn the most important word in the world for any person addicted to alcohol or drugs, and that is the "WORD NO."

Thursday, November 17, 2011

So many people in our world suffer from either an alcohol or drug addiction and they have no idea where to start to get sober in a safe and healthy way. I, fortunately never had an addiction to drugs, but made up for it by being addicted to alcohol for many years.

Many people that are addicted to alcohol want to quit drinking and often wonder to them selves if quitting drinking cold turkey would be the answer. In many cases, such as my case, going cold turkey worked for me, but it is not the answer for many other people addicted to drugs or alcohol.

These people may be in danger if they tried to go cold turkey without the proper Medical help and guidance through the process of their detoxification. You really have to see the proper Doctor and let him/her diagnose and examine the extent of you addiction and guide and place you in the proper Rehabilatation Center to get the correct care in a safe way.

If any alcoholic thinks and wants sobriety back into their lives again, I would recomend starting off first by preparing yourself for a lenthy journey and get ready for journey of a life time. This journey will not only save your life, but when all said and done, you can be proud of yourself as I am of myself that you and I have beat our demons on our own.

Don't get me wrong and don't be afraid of sobriety, but I must say when I decided to go cold turkey and quit drinking alcohol once and for all, I was scared to death and the reason was I have lived with my addiction to alcohol for many years, as all alcoholics do, and I didn't know how I would feel or react with the absence of alcohol in my body.

Would I be a happier person? Would I get sick or get the Dts from having no alcohol in my system by just cutting off the supply of alcohol instantly?

These were a few things that went through my mind when I decided to finally surrender to my addiction to alcohol. Believe it or not, those things never happened to me after all the worrying. I was fine as far as the above, but I have to say, I was a bit nervous as the days went by. I did feel fidgety and didn't know what to do with my hands or myself. I keep telling myself hang in there and you will get through this and become sober again.

As the day went by, and weeks to follow, things began to feel better inside my old self and I then realized I have been sober for three weeks and then it became months, and now I have passed my two year mark being clean and sober. I can't believe how fast time went and how great I feel.

I have no desire or the urge to ever drink alcohol again and it will stay like that till the end of my time here on earth. I gave myself a second chance at a clean and healthy life and I have no regrets of tossing my addiction aside to live the clean life. You can do the same thing if you are willing to admit to your addiction to alcohol, and want a better life, as I have experienced.

Stand up to your demons and shut them down in their tracks and you will see just how sobriety will change your life as it did mine.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Being an alcoholic myself, but now clean and sober for over two years I learned all the tricks of how to hide and lie to others about my drinking. The question is, "why do alcoholics lie to others?"

When a person has become addicted to alcohol, some of them may hide their addiction from others for the reason of embarrassment. I know that after many years of my drinking alcohol I began to get embarrassed to even go outside with a beer in my hand. I knew deep down that what I was doing was wrong, and I say wrong because I would have a beer in my hand pretty much all day.

Don't get me wrong, I love to drink and have nothing against anyone that drinks alcohol, but in my case I carried it too far and didn't know when to stop. I didn't have that luxury of having one or two drinks and call it quits for the day. I had to get enough alcohol to cop that buzz I longed for each day. Now sober and looking back on those days I was really foolish and a very weak person to say the least and never learned to say the words, "enough is enough."

As far as the lies alcoholics tell, they are endless. I knew a few myself, but in the end I (we) are only lying to ourselves. I lived, as many alcoholics live in a world of denial. No matter what anyone tells us we don't believe them or care to listen to their ridiculous remarks on how much we drink.

People would come up to me and ask:
Why do you drink so much?
Haven't you had enough beer?
Do you think you have an addiction problem?
Do you think you are an alcoholic?
Can't you ever go a day without a drink in your hand?
Can't you go anywhere without asking if there will be alcohol?

All these things people would ask me and I am very sure they have asked these same questions to just about every alcoholic that people and family worry about and care for their well being.

After all said and done I still never thought I had a addiction problem at all and just thought these people were rude and didn't know me as they thought they knew me. Man was I dead wrong with thinking that way that's for sure.

Here are some examples of my lies and maybe a few will ring a bell to other alcoholics.
I promise I will slow down on my drinking.
I promise to only drink on weekends and Holidays.
Please don't leave me I will stop drinking alcohol now.
I didn't mean what I said last night, I was drunk.
I only had a couple of beers.
No I didn't stop at the bar on the way home from work.
I promise I will quit drinking alcohol after this weekend.
I will not buy anymore alcohol I promise.

Maybe some of these lies will hit home to a few alcoholics and maybe you will have your own lies that you think you will get away with. Believe me, we are only lying and fooling our self and no one else.

'Get out of denial and stop lying and making excuses for your addiction and your actions and lifestyle. Man up and surrender to your addiction and start to live life like it should be lived and that is clean and sober.

When you surrender and stop the lying it will feel like the world is lifted off your shoulders. I know it felt that way for me once I became clean and sober. No more lies and excuses why I drink and now more hiding behind the bottle. No more feeling embarrassed of your addiction and instead feeling proud as hell of your achievement of finding sobriety and living a new and sober life.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

All of us have had the urge to do something in our life that we know will hurt us in the end, but having the urge to drink while in recovery can be devastating to the reformed alcoholic or the alcoholic that just surrendered to their addiction to alcohol.

When the alcoholic finally admits they have a drinking problem and decides to quit drinking alcohol there will be many urges to drink while starting this long road to recovery. For myself, when I surrendered to my addiction to alcohol there were many times in the beginning and even in today that the urge has come over me to drink alcohol, but I promised myself over two years ago that no matter what happens in my life and what road blocks I come up against I will never pick up a alcohol drink ever again.

HERE ARE A FEW STEPS I LEARNED TO GETTING SOBER AND STAYING SOBER:

1. First you must admit you have a drinking problem and need help to get sober.2. You need to want to get clean and sober and your heart has to be into it and not just doing it to make someone in your life happy or to get them off your back with the nagging to you regarding your addiction and your life style.3. As hard as it might seem, you need to promise yourself never to drink again and never break that promise to yourself no matter what happens in your life. 4. You must be and stay strong to yourself and respect yourself enough not to ever drink' again.5. You have to be stronger than your addiction.6. You need to eat and sleep right, eating all the right foods and drink that water to cleanse your body that you abused for so many years.7. You need to exercise, run, walk, lift weights or what ever it takes to get your body back into shape.8. You need to stay busy, mentally and physically to keep your mind off the booze.9. You may need to stay away from you past drinking buddies and the bars you used to visit and drink your nights away.10. Stay away from all things that would bring temptation to drink alcohol again.

These are just a few things that helped my get and stay sober for over two years now. The longer you stay clean and sober the easier it will be to handle different things that may happen bad in your life.

I can tell you, as I said before, that many things happened to me and my family in those two years, and even though I thought about alcohol and drinking again to fix the problem, (in which itnever fixes the problem, it only makes things a thousand times worse) I was strong enough to say NO!

Anyone can do the same thing as I have done, if and only if you want sobriety bad enough in your life, and if you are not positively ready to surrender to your addiction, and what a new life, then it will not work. (YOU HAVE TO WANT SOBRIETY AND HAVE IT IN YOUR HEART TO GET AND STAY CLEAN AND SOBER)

Stay focused and keep that positive attitude, and with the willing and the determination you will indeed achieve sobriety in your life.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Have you ever wanted to quit something so bad, but you don't where to start in quiting. One thing alcoholics may ask them selves is, "why can't I quit drinking alcohol?" The reason I have found that I or you can't quit drinking alcohol is because we don't want sobriety bad enough to take action of our addictions.

If someone wants something bad enough we will do and try anything to achieve what we want to do, and in my case and every alcoholics case, is that we need to put our addiction to the back and look at our life and the horrible life we are living plus, we are setting a poor example for our children if you have any.

Quitting drinking can and will change your life as it did mine. I always put my experiences of drinking alcohol and my life and the results of my addiction out to the world in hopes that many will learn by my mistakes. Sobriety is waiting for all of us. The only thing we the alcoholics have to do is first to want sobriety, and if you want it then just go for it.

Sobriety won't come to you unless you go after it. If you want to live a long healthy life then I would recommend thinking about quitting drinking alcohol. Sure, it will take some hard work, but what doesn't take work for a positive outcome?

When you or someone else ask, "why you can't quit drinking your answer should be because you just don't want to. There is no such word as "I can't." You can do anything in life that you want, but the big problem is to get to that point of wanting something, and in this case, you have to want sobriety back into your life.

When I surrendered to my addiction to alcohol over two years ago I never thought it would be possible because I depended on alcohol thinking it helped me get through each day and in fact it helped me destroy my body and my life each day instead of helping.

You know, sometimes it takes a huge wake up call or something bad to happen to someone in order to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Don't ever say you can not do something, because as I said, if you have the will and determination, anything is possible in life, including getting sober and staying sober.

Friday, November 11, 2011

I asked a question to myself over two years ago and that was, "are you ready to get sober Mark?" When people drink alcohol they tend to change into someone else in the eyes of others, but the person drinking doesn't see just how their mood, personality and actions change when drinking alcohol.

For myself, when I drank, I thought I was perfect and I never did anything that would hinder my actions or hurt someone physically or mentally with what I did or what I said. I found out when I became clean and sober I was dead wrong by what people would tell me as I stood in front of them sober. I was shocked to hear many things and never knew. I was the talk of the town years ago and never knew it.

The question I have for anyone that is addicted to alcohol is, "when will you be ready to get sober and stay sober?"

Will it take something drastic to happen to you or your life? Will it take being on the verge of losing your family and friends all because you are drinking too much and can't stop no matter what happens or what people say to you?

This is something to really think about. You need to put your priorities in order and think to yourself which is more important, your life, your family and friends or the booze?

Make up your mind one way or another whether you want sobriety in your life or just stay on the path of self destruction by drinking alcohol and take the chance of losing your family or possibly losing your own life.

You can get sober, believe me. The only thing you must do to start the process of recovery is to admit you have a problem and surrender to you inner demons once and for all. Once you have surrender and ask for the help you need to get sober, then the process of recovery will begin.

Understand, this will not happen overnight getting back to your old sober life. It took years for you to get addicted to alcohol and it will take time to get used to being sober and having no alcohol in your body, but don't fear, each and everyday sober will get easier and easier, at least it did for me.

Stay focused on getting clean and sober. Stay positive and keep that positive attitude going and continue to tell yourself that you can and will get sober again, and with the strength,determination and the willingness to get sober, it will indeed happen.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

What are you afraid of ?Are you afraid to get clean and sober ?Are you worried what your drinking partners will say ?

Rest assure, you will be better off then your drinking buddies when you decide to get clean and sober. When the alcoholic has had alcohol in their system for so many years, like myself, it tends to be a huge part of the alcoholics life and they are afraid to do without it, as I was.

What will I feel like being clean and sober? Will I get sick from the absence of alcohol in my body?

These are the questions I asked myself before I decided to quit drinking alcohol.

I was scared to death thinking of all the different things that may happen to me when I became sober, but it wasn't enough for me to back down and stay addicted to alcohol. I was determined to change my life around and live it like it should be lived and not let alcohol run my life for me.

Since I became clean and sober I now realize that sobriety will never hurt you, it's your addiction to alcohol that will kill you in the end and you can take that to the bank.

If you are like I was and need to drink every night, seven days a week for years without a break, than I would seriously think about getting help or just tossing in the towel, because you will never beat your demons and the games they play on you and your body. So, you might as well surrender to them and get sober once and for all. They will win in the end if you keep on the path of self destruction.

I believe I caught it just in time before my whole world fell apart and thank God I did. It has been just over 2 years sober now and I don't miss the drink at all. I have no desire to drink or the urge to drink at all. I am not afraid to be around people that still drink alcohol because I know that I am stronger than my addiction now and I have learned the best word of all and that is to be able to say NO!!

So if you are afraid to get clean and sober, don't be, because it will be the best thing you could ever do in your life. You will feel free once again and not having your addiction run your life wherever you go. You will now be in charge of your own life again.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

There are so many people that are addicted to alcohol, but they think there is nothing wrong with them. They think what they are doing by abusing alcohol is not a problem, but they have no idea what they are putting themselves and others that love them through.

The big question to the alcoholic is, "are you living in denial with your addiction?" I know now being that I am sober, that I certainly lived in denial for many years. I said the same thing. I am not doing anything wrong and I am not hurting a soul so why is everyone saying I have an addiction to alcohol? They were my famous sayings while so blinded by my addiction.

I believe the word denial is, "the absence of acceptance." The alcoholic is not willing to accept they have a drinking problem, no matter what anyone tells them or even what they see when looking into a mirror. They truly can see through their own eyes that they are slowly, but surely killing them self. The old saying is that, "pictures or mirrors don't lie" and I can testify to that by what I saw in myself as I slowing was declining in health and looks.

Living in denial with your addiction is something that you the alcoholic can only change. Hopefully the alcoholic will realize that they have a problem with drinking before it is too late. For some people that are addicted may never see the light and get out of their denial and for others they may catch it in enough time to change their life and live it clean and sober for the rest of their time here on earth. As for myself, it took many years to see the light and to get out of the denial I lived in for so long. I now know that sobriety is a wonderful thing and I only wished I would have realized it much earlier in life, but as they say, "better late than never."

Once you have realized you are an alcoholic and need help, and admit it to yourself and everyone else, than getting clean and sober is going to enter your life, because you have surrendered and want to get help and want sobriety back into your life.

As hard as it might seem, getting clean and sober is possible for anyone addicted to alcohol or even using drugs. You may say, "yes, easier said than done," but I have to tell you, I did it and never really thought I could until I put my mind to it and got out of the denial I lived in for so long. Once you realize you have a real problem then it should be no problem admitting you live in denial and you want to do something about it by surrendering to your demons.

If you want a quality life and to be healthy again stand up to your demons and surrender to your addiction. Get out of denial and take action to change your life for the good. Ask for the help you need to get better and never hide behind your addiction because those you are hiding from know the real story, but you may think they don't. You would be surprised just how many people are talking about you without you even knowing. I call say this because once I got clean and sober is when I found out the true feelings people thought about me.

Give sobriety a second chance and you will be surprised of just how great your life will be living life sober.

Monday, November 7, 2011

For so many people that have an addiction, it is hard to tell them how to overcome an addiction to alcohol. Those that are fortunate enough to not have this problem don't understand just how hard it is to surrender to something that is a huge part of ones life, meaning the alcoholic has lived with their addiction for so many years it's like a part of them. They need it everyday of their lives to make it through their day.

In order to surrender to their addiction to alcohol, they will have to be willing to give in to their demons and quit drinking alcohol once and for all. This is a scary thought to the alcoholic because they are afraid of how they might feel with the absence of alcohol in their bodies.

I can testify to this statement, because when I surrendered to my addiction to alcohol I was scared to death of the way I might feel without alcohol in my body. I knew I would have some reactions and would feel like crap without the alcohol in my body, but I made my mind up to quit drinking and there was nothing that was going to stop me from reaching sobriety and long term sobriety to boot.

To be able to overcome anything or any problem in life is certainly a challenge to say the least, but if you are willing to make that change in your life you will do anything to achieve what you have set out to do, and in my case, and every alcoholic's case, getting clean and sober is the our challenge in life and once we conquered that we will feel at peace that our demons have been overcome and all of us (the alcoholics) should be so very proud of what they have accomplished in achieving our sobriety.

I just want to try and tell those that are addicted to alcohol to never give up hope on yourself for sobriety is in your future, only if you want it bad enough, as I did. Continue to keep a positive attitude and keep telling yourself that you can and will get clean and sober.

To overcome anything in life takes hard work, determination and the willingness to walk away from your demons and live life sober.

OVERCOME YOUR ADDICTION NOW!

Get out of denial and admit you have an addiction to alcohol and need help.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

All of us know that there is nothing simple in life, or is there? I have learned over the past two years that less is more and I will continue to live life thinking and acting that way. I always knew that saying , but never put it into action in my own life.

How to live a simple yet happy life is really up to each and everyone of us, and if that is the lifestyle you wish to live by. For many of people they wish to live high on the hog, as they say, but living this way and knowing you may not be able to afford this type of lifestyle, could very well put you in a financial situation that maybe very difficult to get out of. I know this because a time in my life I was in that same boat and was drowning in debt.

I wanted things and bought things that I thought I could afford, but knew deep down that I couldn't. This never stopped me from getting what I wanted. The banks make it so easy to get loans as long as you were willing to pay the high interest rates in which I didn't care about because I wanted what I wanted and never thought of the consequences to pay the loans back.

At that time I also had one other problem and that was, I was addicted to alcohol in which made me make poor decisions and made me think irrational.

When you make poor decisions in life they will indeed catch up to you and make your life very miserable because those thoughts and decisions you made before. These poor decisions need to be dealt with and corrected in order to be happy again and get your life back on track.

After I surrendered to my addiction to alcohol I started to think better and make better decisions in my life and one of those decisions were to get out of debt and live a happy life again and not worry about where the money was going to come from to pay for all those stupid purchases I did years before.

Once I got clean and sober I was then able to start to plan this huge change in my life, with of course, the help of my wife that stuck by my side through all the ups and downs in our marriage all do to my addiction. I praise her for standing by my side through these tough times.

Now it was up to me to make things better. The way they should of been all those years in the past.

Remember that less is more is most cases, although many people may argue with that statement. It is my thoughts and the way I now live my life, and it has worked out perfect.

Get rid of all the things you really don't need and start cleaning and throwing away.

Think if you can do without different things to make life simpler.

Start paying down extra on your bills to get them paid in full sooner.

As far as transportation, do you really need that expensive car or truck? I bought a car cash, because after all I only need it to get from point A to point B.

Think of things while grocery shopping that really are not necessary to buy.

All these things I mentioned save money and when you save money by cutting down you can live more simple (and don't need to break your back working for the rest of your life to pay those bills for the fun and the prestige for things I really didn't need to be happy in my life.)

Many people reading may think I'm nuts, BUT I have done all of this and I am a stone throw away from being debt free, and that is a wonderful feeling. So call me nuts, but I have no financial worries anymore. I live simple and I am happier than I have ever been. I now realize that material things mean nothing, although they are is a sign of prestige for many, but not me anymore.

As I said in other articles, I sold my home and downsized big time to a manufactured home in a 55+ community minutes from the Ocean with the Bay right down the street. It was my life long dream to live by the sea and with my addiction to alcohol and the way I lived in the past it would never be possible to have what I have now and the best part is, everything is paid in full and now I can relax and enjoy my life with no more worries of paying or having things I really never needed, just to impress others.

So if you would like to live a simple life and still be happy it is very possible. I never thought I would be living so simple and yet still be happy, but I am, and the change in my life by quitting drinking alcohol and downsizing my life is certainly the best thing I could ever have done. The only thing you need is to have the willingness, the desire and the guts to make that change and believe me it can happen if you truly want it to.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

We as individual people get to choose what we want out of life , but some of us choose the wrong direction in our lives. As far as drinking alcohol and abusing it, I would say that alcoholism is a choice.

I chose to drink alcohol like many of us do and no one forced me into drinking, I did it all on my own. I was the one that chose to self destruct myself and almost ruin my life and my family. I chose to drink and I paid the consequences in the end.

I was fortunate enough that my alcohol addiction did not make me ill enough to be hospitalize, but as far as everything else, it just started to fall to pieces a little at a time until I basically hit rock bottom. I buried our lives in debt and found it very hard to get out.

No one made me do anything. I was the only person that listened to my alcohol demons that took over my life and body. I blame no one, but myself.

Now for the big thing, to be able to get out of something I put myself into, and that was my addiction to alcohol. It was my choice to drink alcohol, (as it is yours and everyone else) that has become addicted to a substance that can and will ruin your life in time, if not drank responsibly.

I chose alcohol over my family and my own health and life and now it was time to surrender to my addiction no matter what it took to get and stay clean and sober.

If you are one of the ones that became addicted to alcohol and alcoholism has taken over your life, I have to say never give up on yourself. If you want to be clean and sober then start taking action to change your life around and live it like it should be lived, and that is sober and happy.

If you want to be sober than the first step is to admit you are an alcoholic and you want and need help to get sober. Ask for the help you need and never be embarrassed of your addiction, because what is inside you, your demons, have simply taken over your life and the only way to get rid of them once and for all is to surrender too them and start living a clean and sober life.

I thought is would be so hard to surrender to my demons, but believe it or not, it really wasn't that bad. I have been clean and sober now two years. I had it in my mind from the very beginning that I would achieve sobriety no matter what it took, and nothing or anyone would stand in my way of getting clean and sober. Once you have it in your mind like I did, and you are serious about quitting drinking alcohol, you will conquer your addiction.

You have to have the determination, the willingness and a strong desire to get clean and sober and with these things and keeping a positive attitude you will indeed find sobriety as I did.

I was your choice to drink alcohol and it is your choice to get get clean and sober. The bottom line is, THE CHOICE IS YOURS AND NO ONE ELSE."

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Everyone in the world would love to have the best of everything in life, and some people may achieve that, and then there are those that struggle throughout their entire lives.

I am going to tell you what I have come up with. I call it my Master Plan. I will tell you my logic and my life on "how to retire by living low key."

I always had rich taste my entire life, but knew what I wanted in my life was too difficult to achieve with what I had to work with, such as lack of education and the lack of knowledge to being rich. I raise my hat to all those that have achieved success in their lives and wish them all the best and more to come for them. As far as my life and wanting to retire, I needed to come up with a plan that would able me to retire early in life and to be able to enjoy my life while still being healthy.

I first had to get rid of something that had been in my life for many years and that was my addiction to alcohol. Once I surrendered to my addiction, now two years sober, I started to think of what I could do to be able to live a simple yet happy life.

My first thing, and the biggest thing of all was to downsize my home and get rid of that hugemortgage payment I was making for the next 20 some years. My dream in life was to always live by the sea, and where I was brought up as child during the summers each year. I knew that living on the water, whether it be the Ocean or the Bay was way out of my reach, so I needed to think what I could do to get very close to those two bodies of water without spending a fortune, which I didn't have anyway. My wife came up with an idea to look into mobile home parks in the Shore areas and see what they were like. Most of them were 55 + community which was great because when we started looking I was only 6 months from the age of 55. We found a beautiful place less than a mile from the open bay and about 6-8 minutes from the ocean.

Now the question was, "would we be happy in a home much smaller and living in a mobile homecommunity?" The place that we found was a modular home (double wide) just like a rancher, but needed lots of work to get it in living order. We purchased it and paid cash and totally re-modeled
it from the inside and out. Now we have a brand new home that was paid in full. The only bill we
would then have regarding the home would be our utilities and HOA fees of $455.00 per month, which included, Taxes, water, sewer, trash, snow removal, pool and clubhouse.

Secondly, I needed to get all the rest of our bills together and start paying them off one at a time.

I cut up all the credit cards, because now everything was going to be paid in cash with no more credit.

I only buy what I need, with nothing extra.

I cut down on many things that really was not necessary in my everyday living.

I needed to do this in order to live life simple and have my dream home by the sea. If you are willing to give to get, like I was, your life can be so much easier if you take that chance. Sure, I was very nervous and worried if everything would come out as I planned, but as of right now, I am writing at my shore home with no mortgage and bills that are getting paid in full one at a time, until I have no bills at all except my living expenses.

Anyone can do it like I did. You need to have the guts to take that chance, and in my case it worked out just fine and I am happy and living like the rich with no bills and no worries anymore.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

For many people that are addicted to alcohol, sobriety hasn't been in their lives for some time. This statement also refers to myself. Years have gone by and we the alcoholics forget what it feels like to be clean and sober and to wake up in the morning refreshed and happy. We wake up with a huge headache and some may even go for the bottle first thing in the morning just to take that edge off and get back into the feeling they had when retiring to bed the night before.

Once that first drink of the day is drank, we are right back to that buzzed feeling again. Some of us just have one or two drinks to start our day and then there are those that have the first drink and continue to drink the rest of their day.

Through my experiences drinking alcohol I would like to try and explain how to live sober and be happy. I thought when I drank alcohol I was a happy person, in fact most alcoholics think they are happy, and they very well maybe, but the alcohol can play those head games with you. My demons played many of games with my mind, such as making me think I was happy, but in fact I was very miserable on the inside and may of try to act happy to others, but I knew deep down the true feeling inside.

Living sober and being happy is in any one's life if you truly want to live and feel that way. There are those that simply want to be miserable and unhappy and I truly think they don't know any better. They have lived with their addiction for so many years they just think that it is the way of life.

Once I had decided to surrender to my addiction I then began my new quest of living life simple and began to try to be a bit more happy. By living life simple I have realized that I didn't need all those fancy things in life to be happy. In fact, I am the happiest I have ever been just living simple.

I sold my home and downsized to a smaller one in a 55+ community where the only thing I have to pay for now is my land (HOA) fees. Now sober I can appreciate even the smallest of things and really appreciate living so close to the Ocean and Bay and only minutes away.

You need to learn to live simple and to just enjoy what you have and stop wanting more and more out of life, because in my opinion it only brings misery when you get so far in debt that you have a hard time getting out of it. I now have clean out, thrown out everything I don't need and just live with the simplest things and the things that are nessessary in my everyday living.

Sobriety and liviing life simple is my top priority along with my wife and family. With all said, life is wonderful and stress free to say the least in which helps me to stay sober because I have no more worrries or stress in my life living it simple and being happy doing it.

Anyone, as I said, can do this if you are willing to give up a few things as I did by stopping drinking first and the rest came right into place. If you are willing to change your life for the better than in the long run you will be happier and if you are an alcoholic and decide to get and stay sober you will see just how great life is living it sober, and living it happy.

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

I hope you will find this blog to be helpful in finding your own sobriety as I found mine. I have written ways that I found that helped me get clean and sober and helped me get a positive attitude and a happier life.

Follow by Email

Subscribe To

About Me

I have been married for 31 years to a beautiful lady and the love of my life. I write articles on The Clean Life Blog, HubPages and my newest blog Crushing Alcohol Addiction regarding alcohol addiction and ways that I have found that helped me to Get and Stay Clean and Sober. I want people that have an addiction to alcohol to realize there is always hope for sobriety if you truly want to change your life and live it healthy, happy and sober.

Hopefully the lessons I have learned by stopping drinking will help those that want to help themselves.